opting to buy more practical gifts rather than luxury items. gregg: practical gifts, there is nothing more practical than shoes. you've got to wear them to walk. heather: nothing practical about the shoes i've got on today. gregg: how high are those heels, like 15 inches. heather: they make me your height. gregg: can you really walk in those? heather: i can run through the stores. gregg: okay. that's going to do it for now. "happening now" begins right now. have a merry christmas, everybody. heather: merry christmas. gregg: bye-bye. >> reporter: right now brand-new stories and breaking news. >> reporter: dreams of a white christmas it could become a reality. creating travel nightmares how the weather is affecting your trip home for the holidays. it will be a very merry christmas for the familiar leave this u.s. marine veteran just released from one of mexico's most dangerous prisons. where he stopped off before heading home causing some concern. how about this.

a short-cut to becoming a doctor, a new program being offered by one of the most prestigious medical schools in our country saving both time and money for the students, but does it skimp on training, a doctor in three years? it's all happening now. but first there is troubling news on the civil war that is raging some 21 months now in syria. the international envoy trying to help end the violence there says that he's still worried there's been no progress in the ending of the bloodshed that's claimed thousands of lives. hi, everybody, i'm jaime colby, today i'm in nor jenna lee. >> reporter: i'm kelly wright in nor jon scott. the u.n. envoy meeting face to nice with the syrian president today. while their account of that meeting was lens hopeful we are hearing now even more troubling reports the syrian army may have used a deadly poisonous gas on

their own citizens. leland vittert lived from bethlehem in the west bank with more details. good day to you. >> reporter: good day. it's a little bit tear lee to figure out what may or may not have happened in terms of a report of a possible chemical weapons attack. right now we are seeing no serious split along religious lines inside that country. you can see it from the latest video. an air strike on what the rebels claim was a bakery line. when you look at this video it shows a lot of armed men in camouflage, victims of this attack. it's hard to tell whether they bombed a bakery or some type of rebel outpost. it is clear inside syria the rebels are certainly getting pounded by bashar al-assad's air force from above and his air force still controls much of the skies. its becoming a particularly critical situation on the ground inside a number of the rebel strongholds because the medical supply shortage is happening. you have these mass casualty

events like the bomb eupblgs and therbombings and there is really no way to treat the victims. the rebels are gaining momentum, better armed and organized, better command and control facilities there inside of northern syria and they are trying to push into a number of towns which are controlled by those loyal to president bashar al-assad. this will be a real test for the rebels in the coming weeks because they have been used to mounting their attacks in the relative safety of cities which supported them and now awful a sudden they will be operating in truly hostile environments where they do not have the hearts and minds of the people themselves. the latest reports out of syria, though, show no progress on the diplomatic front. so far the one peace enjoy who has been able to meet with president bashar al-assad has walked away with every one of the meetings, including won't day saying we are at the same point we were before a civil war going on, and bashar al-assad saying he's not leaving and will continue to fight even if that

means killing thousands of more of his own people. >> reporter: it seems to be so difficult was bashar al-assad continues to blame all of this on insurgents or terrorists if you will. >> reporter: i'm sorry, say again. we're having a problem with the signal. >> reporter: i apologize for that. the problem really lies in bashar al-assad's stand. he continues to blame awful his attacks on his own country coming from terrorism. >> reporter: well, he may have a point at some level in that sense, kelly. you have the rebels who are based there inside of syria, a number of them are hard-line islamists. th*epb you also have a jihadi group that is operating in the latest reports that we have from inside syria are saying that an al-qaida offshoot group has taken up a significant amount of the fight, so the thought that radical islam is behind many of these attacks and behind the syrian revolution is certainly one that holds a lot of water and it's one of the things that the united states and other

western intelligence sources are so concerned about, is the fact that just because president bashar al-assad leaves office or is deposed in some way certainly does not mean syria turns into a democracy. you have a lot of people in there some that are more anti-western than president bashar al-assad ever was that will be vying for that power, and vying not only for the conventional arsenal, a large syrian army but all those chemical weapons. there is a lot of concern about what hands the weapons will fall into if and when he is deposed. >> reporter: we will later speak with bob scales about what he thinks of syria apparently crossing the red line drawn by president obama when it comes to use of chemical weapons, and waving th what if anything the u.s. could do if we are forced to respond. >> reporter: that is one of the things president obama is thinking about i'm sure this

christmas eve. he's on vacation in hawaii. they arrived in hon saturday and he is expected to continue to get the updates of course on the fiscal talks. white house correspondent ed henry lives in hopb lieu hraoufplt i assume thahonolulu. i assume that is in between beach visits. >> reporter: the president does have a lot on his plate. he's trying to get vacation time in as you say. he knows he has the fiscal cliff waiting for him there back in washington. he attended a memorial service in hawaii for the late senator daniel inouye with the first lady. he is knowing that is what is happening back in washington still matters a great deal. and republicans on some of the sunday talk shows, like senator john barrasso of wyoming was on "fox news sunday" charging that the president really does want the nation to go off the cliff because then tax less go up. take a listen. >> when i listen to the president i think the president

is eager to go over the cliff for political purposes. i think he sees a political victory at the bottom of the cliff. he gets all this additional tax revenue for new programs. he gets to cut the military which democrats have been calling for, for years. and he gets to blame republicans for it. >> reporter: democrats say that is ridiculous, that the president has been working with republican leaders again and again trying to workout some sort of a deal, both on spending and taxes to avoid the fiscal cliff, and democrat chuck schumer yesterday said the real problem is that republicans won't admit the president won the election and that tax rates are going up. take a listen. >> on taxes, i know it's hard for the republicans, but the president ran on that platform, 250, no tax increase for people below, but taxes for people above, he won 60% of the voters said they were for it in the exit polls, including some republicans. >> reporter: all eyes now turning to the possibility since speaker john boehner was not able to get enough republican

votes to move forward with a plan late last week, that maybe now the senate will have to workout a compromise between harry reid, mitch mcconnell the democratic and republican leaders, and the president who is here in hawaii when you talk to his staff they say it's very likely some time after spending christmas with his family, whether it's the middle or later part of this week he's likely to head back to washington to sit down with congressional leaders and try to work this out. >> reporter: it's a bit encouraging for a lot of folks who were wondering about that question. i'm curious is there anyone on the island that is critical to the fiscal talks that joined the president on this trip or is everything being done electronically? >> reporter: most electronic leave. the one interesting point is when i mentioned the memorial service for senator inouye the person giving the oo eulogy was harry reid. they may have got even a chance for a little private time. the president and john boehner have not had any phone contact since friday. their staffs are still

communicating but still really very little progress, jaime. >> reporter: thank you so much,ed appreciate the report at that early hour there in hawaii. merry christmas. >> reporter: meanwhile some senators are suggesting the only option now to avoid a fiscal cliff is a scaled-back deal to stop tax increases for most americans. we just hear heard heard ed elude to that. we are joined my jaime. what happens if the president and congress fail to reach an agreement on averting this so-called fiscal cliff? >> well, we go over it. you know, maybe the analogy of fiscal cliff that everyone is using might not be perfect because that doesn't end everything. there will be negotiations afterwards. in fact republicans who think that we are going overlook to the debt ceiling hike that will

have to happen some time in the beginning of next year, perhaps at the end of january, or early february, at the point where negotiations will really pick up again, because they'll have some leverage there. there are reports out that some agencies, the defense department, that are facing these cuts as a result of the fiscal cliff are planning already ahead knowing that there will be negotiations afterwards if no deal is reached, and believing that some type of remedy will occur. they are not really starting to cut as much as they would believing that some deal, even if it doesn't happen before january 3rd will happen after january 3rd. >> reporter: you can be sure that they are actually lobbying and actually trying to get a deal done. as we see members of wall street and ceo's saying get in there and get in the room and get a deal done. you're speaking of negotiations, prior to this standoff the negotiations between president obama and house speaker john boehner tpaeufpltd the so-called plan b alternative failed in the house. so now the senate has the hard

task of doing something. so what plan do you expect senators to possibly adopt, and do they have enough time to even get a plan into place? >> it's a good question. there was a quote today in the new york times from a senior democratic aide who said it's hard to under state how little is going on in the senate right now. so, there is very little going on over this holiday. you have the hope that once they get back from vacation that they'll put together a plan. but there is a lot of incentive not to put together a plan. a lot of republicans in the senate who might be up for re-election in 2014 are worried that if they support raising taxes that they could have a primary opponent, especially when they know that if they don't do anything, if we go over the fiscal cliff there will be a bill put in place where they could vote to cut taxes instead of having what so might consider to raise them beforehand. one of those 4 senators is mitch mcconnell the g.o.p. leader. >> reporter: the president before leaving for hawaii says

he hopes everyone gets a chance to drink some el nog, sing some christmas carols and get with their constituents to aeu to tell them they can get something done. all this will only cut $8 billion as opposed to the $4 trillion. can't america do better th-pb. >> the discussions have been focused entirely on taxes. even if you adopted all the president's tax cuts -- tax increases that he wanted it would do so little to touch our long-term fiscal problem. it really needs to be entitlement reform and it's really a tragedy that everything has been focused on taxes when entitlement reform is really what needs to be addressed to address a long term fiscal crisis. >> reporter: that and taxes seem to be the sticking point. jaime we thank you your insights. merry chris misand happy

holidays to you. >> same to you. thank you. >> reporter: there were four firefighters responding to a fire in upstate new york and all four were shot on the scene. the webster police chief says of the four that were shot responding to this blaze of a house and a car two are dead. the chief says one or more shooters fired at the firefighters this morning. officials say they had arrived at this blaze near the lake ontario shore around 6:00am. it's said to be a middle class suburb. officials say a fire started in one home and spread to two others and a car. they say there is no active shooter right now at the scene. david lee miller will have a live report for us later this hour. >> reporter: three people are arrested in a gas explosion that devastated a neighborhood and left two people dead, and we will tell you why investigators say this was no accident. and the stakes can be high during the holiday shopping season as retailers look to make big gains and consumers search

for the best deals. find out who came out on top this time around. [ male announcer ] when was the last time something made your jaw drop?

campbell's has 24 new soups that will make it drop over, and over again. ♪ from jammin' jerk chicken, to creamy gouda bisque. see what's new from campbell's. it's amazing what soup can do.

jaime: new information on crime stories we are following here at fox. three people set to appear in court today on murder, arson and other charges in deadly gas explosion. indiana police say they set off the blast in hopes of getting an insurance payout. pop superstar rihanna shaken up after a fan tried to enter her vacation home in bar pwaeud dotes. he reportedly made his way onto the property but security quickly escorted him away. you can only imagine. delivery workers are hard at work this time of year, apparently sore the thieves. texas police arresting two people caught on video stealing freshly delivered packages from porches. kelly: some retailers are already taking stock as the holiday shopping season winds down. and it appears business as a

whole has been good. especially for some sellers who specialize in selling only american-made goods. william la jeunesse, live from our los angeles bureau with more details on why it's good to buy american. >> reporter: if americans put their money where their mouth is the economy here would likely rebound much faster. about 80% of u.s. consumers say they are willing to pay more for products made in the u.s. while that could be true part of the problem is availability and part visibility. buying american is probably not on the top of your wish list when shopping. and we don't have buy american stores where everything inside is sourced and manufactured or assembled in the u.s. there are some web sites that do just that. one is seeing double digit growth and is made in the u.s.a. forever.com. it provides a sales channel for jeans and electronics, garden

tools. american jobs where are sucked offshore. and the owner says while u.s. made may mean a higher price it will pay dividends for generations to come, and it's higher quality. >> it touches a lot of people. the farmer who grows the cotten. the person who has to make that to the mill, the people working at the mill. the economic multiplier affect is 1.7 for every dollar we spend in our own nation to value economically in our own country. >> reporter: as it stands now about 98% of clothing bought in the u.s. is made abroad. take shoes in 1960, 98% of the choose were made in the u.s. 252%. wages in china are increasing. in the next two years consultants believe the u.s. will reshore about 3 billion in u.s. jobs as the wage differential shrinks making us

more competitive. the u.s. maintains a edge in neurospace, heavy equipment world wide. american products have a reputation for quality and durability. while people are willing to pay more than that part of it is education. they say we need to rebrand u.s. goods in the mind of u.s. consumers as a value purchase. kelly: let's bring americans back by buying and investing in america. >> reporter: if there was a store for it i think probably more of us would do it. kelly: let's go out and create a business. jaime: means jobs. definitely. local police are calling this bon of the strangest cases ever. two young men vanish without a trace in an ideal i can new england river town. as we get reports that syria may have crossed president obama's red line by using chemical weapons within its borders we'll debate what the u.s. could do, if anything, in we are forced to respond. are we there yet?

hey! did you know that honey nut cheerios has oats that can help lower cholesterol? and it tastes good? sure does! wow. it's the honey, it makes it taste so... well, would you look at the time... what's the rush? be happy. be healthy. you have a plan? first we're gonna check our bags for free, thanks to our explorer card. then, the united club. my motr was so wrong about you. next, we get priory boarding on our flight i booked with miles. all because of the card. and me. okay, what's the plan? plan? mm-hmm. we're on vacation. there is no plan. really? [ male announcer ] the united mileageplus explorer card. the mileage card with speci perks on united. get it and you're in.

you can stay in and share something... or you can get out there and actually share something. ♪ the lexus december to remember sales event is on. this is the pursuit of perfection. the lexus december to remember sales event is on. 7,000 students drop out every school day. that's a line of desks more than 4 miles long. keep students in school. visit boostup.org and take the first step.

a local police chief is calling it one of the strangist cases he's ever seen after two young men in their 20s vanish without a place in an idyllic river community in southern maine. they were report erred lee last

seen drinking beer at midnight at well's home in kennebunkport on thursday but were gone when one of wells' roommates went downstairs to turn off a radio at 34:00am. when the two men failed to show up at class at a nearby college on friday police were called and the search began. investigators say there were no signs, no signs at all of a disturbance in the home and the pair's only vehicle has still been parked in the driveway. so anyone with information is asked to call the kennebunkport police department at 2 at 796724 ar 79672454. jaime: unsettling news of a chemical weapons attack overseas. that's right i heard me right. there are reports that syria may have used a separate government air strike that killed dozens of people waiting outside a bakery yesterday. they may have used chemical weapons for that. what may be more troubling is the report of seven others

killed in an area currently controlled by the rebels when they inhaled an apparently poisonness gas sprayed by the syrian army. president obama had already declared that there is a red line regarding the use of chemical weapons on the syrian people. so now there are growing questions as to what if anything the u.s. cou should do if we are forced to respond. bob scales is a retired u.s. army major general and fnc military analyst. general, merry christmas, thanks for joining us. >> merry christmas to you too, jaime. jaime: you have to become more concerned about syria at this point. have they crossed the red line and should we respond. >> first of all let's be clear that most initial reports are wrong. it could be what is used is white phosphorus which is not a chemical weapon, when it's dropped from an aircraft and fired from artillery shells it looks a lot like a chemical weapon because it gives off a huge white cloud and oftentimes people mistake that for chemical

weapons. in this desperation bashar al-assad authorized the use of sarin, the effects on the pheupl teaon the military is minute but on towns and cities it could be absolutely catastrophic. jaime: how will we know and what will we do? >> there are two indicators. number one is when the syrian army issues gas masks and protective clothing to their soldiers. there is some that suggest that bashar al-assad has ordered that to be done. sadly the next indication is extensive civilian casualties, again particularly in cities and towns. there are reasons why bashar al-assad should not do this. one is the affects of the downwind killing effect of these munitions could very well harm his own soldiers and his own followers. so it's very difficult to predict what the killing area or the lethal area of these things

are. jaime: do you really think he cares, general, because ever the thousands of people who have died that he has casualties in his own troops. >> all he cares about is the survival of his family and himself and he's virtually willing to do anything to extract himself from damascus. you could be right. the lethal effects of sarin, one tiny droplet will kill an unprotected person in minutes. this truly is a red line. it could result in thousands, if not tens of thousands of innocent casualties. jaime: if he does give up at some point he sure is reducing the number of places that will give him asylum at this point. let me ask you this north korea. they shot off that missile, said there was a satellite on there, they wanted to keep an eye on earth. there is some evidence based on looking at the capsule when it came down that that is not the case. what did we learn from the evaluation by south korea?

>> let me give you a little rocket 101, if a rocket is even tended for satellite civilian use it uses liquid oxygen where it's pumped into the missile, kept topped off, the missile is fired very quickly, short of like the space shuttle. if it's intended to be an icbm then the objection dic the oxidizer is in a storing mission. that means that it's an icbm. it's built and designed to be stored for long periods of time. this rocket had nitric acid as an oxidizer. it is almost by definition an icbm, which suggests that mr. kim is building icbm's not satellite launching devices. jaime: one other thing in my research that i found is they found some ties to the construction to iran, no surprise, probably but of how

much concern? >> this is a syndicate. north korea and syria, and even other nations in the region, like pakistan have been involved in a rocket and nuclear weapons making syndicate now for almost 20 years. recall that the attempt by syria to build a nuclear reactor was designed and built by north korea. this is truly and axis of evil that many of the components are shared between these countries, which in some ways so the of explains why north korea has been so successful recently in getting the technology up to snuff, jaime. jaime: general, if senator kerry is confirmed as the secretary of state what kind of impact do you think he can have on both syria and north korea and the threat they pose to us? >> very limited. both these countries are on automatic, sadly. the biggest threat to me is north korea. i mean, this is a threat not to the region, but it's a threat to the united states. remember mr. kim said that he was hoping to get the throw weight of this missile up over

2,000 pounds. if you miniature rise a nuclear weapon to fit on top of a icbm it will weigh 2,000 pounds. this is a threat to guam, hawaii and alaskan it's something that we in the united states need to take very, very seriously. jaime: i hear the concern in your voice. i want to ask you one other thing about africa and the al-qaida threat that exists in many nations in that part of the world and the fact that the pentagon is now taking a closer look at it, possibly even sending a brigade there to get their troops up to snuff, although that could be a real challenge. >> yeah, well these are called regionally aligned brigades. this is the second brigade of the first infantry division. it's the first in a step of a series of initiatives the army is taking to avoid what happened to us in the early days of iraq where we didn't have the cultural awareness and the cultural knowledges that we needed going into a counterinsurgency environment.

this bra cade is focused on africa, which as you know, jaime, is probably the next region to be influenced by al-qaida in places like the sudan, nigeria, places like that. remember terrorists always fill a political void and the greatest political void today, at least the growing void in the world sadly is in northern and central africa, jaime. jaime: quickly, what is the second brigade offer that makes them the right folks for this job? >> that is a great question. a lot of cultural training, some language training, the dividing of the brigade into these little military training teams of 25 to 30 men that will go into places in africa where they can do things like educate, provide medical support, dig wells, provide clean water, all of those nonmilitary things that will stab a benign american presence in central africa and try to perhaps prevent al-qaida from encroaching into these very, very volatile regions, jaime. jaime: we really threw

everything at you today, general. when it talk comes to talking about stuff like this i always learn so much for you. in terms of your military service you're a rock star. a merry christmas to you and your family. kelly: a merry christmas to all of those serving in harm's way and of course in our military. breaking news right now on that u.s. marine vet heading home after four months in a notorious mexican prison. a live report coming up next. plus, the gun control debate in the wake of the deadliest elementary school shooting in american history. does the tragedy in connecticut mean the country needs new gun laws? we'll have a fair & balanced look next.

so, this board gives me rates for progressive direct and other car insurance companies? yes. but you're progressive, and they're them. yes. but they're here. yes. are you...? there? yes. no. are you them? i'm me. but those rates are for... them. so them are here. yes! you want to run through it again? no, i'm good. you got it? yes. rates for us and them -- now that's progressive. call or click today.

jamie: this just in. the u.s. marine veteran who spent four months behind bars in one of mexico most

violent prisons is now home. this is my favorite christmas story because jon hammar was jailed in deplorable conditions on a questionable gun charge in mexico. he was taken to a u.s. hospital with flu-like symptoms. just arriving back at his family's home in florida. that is where steve harrigan is live in palmetto bay, florida. steve, what a christmas gift for this family. >> reporter: jamie, it was rashable to see here, four or five minutes ago, jon hammar and his father drove up into the garage. hammar senior came out and spoke to the media for a few minutes afterwards. he said this is the greatest christmas he ever had. he looked visibly exhausted. jon hammar was released after several hours of with more paperwork after five months in the mexican prison. father and son drove back with the goal to get here by christmas day. they had to stop off at a hospital in the louisiana. john, jr., dehydrated with stomach flu. they're not sure about his

condition. he can barely stand you. he walked inside with his mother and father. his father seems like an excited man right now, jamie. jamie: the mexican government, even with pressure from us to keep him for four months chained with handcuffs to a bed, it has been such an ordeal all along the way for this family. they had a lot of support. why did it take so long, steve? >> reporter: they really tried to go through back channels initially but then they made a much more public push to get him out, enlisting people in the community as well as their congresswoman and both senators as well. his mother, olivia said just a short time ago, once he was across the border it is really the first time she has gotten any relief in the past four months. >> it was like my first night that i slept all night long without getting up. it was just, the thought of not wondering what is going on with him. has, can anyone hurt him tonight? those kind of thoughts. >> reporter: it was a real

public push by the entire community here, family and friends as well as their congresswoman, i willly anna ros-lehtinen to get pressure on the mexican government to move. they moved up a trial date to january. they said jon hammar had no criminal intent bringing the 60-year-old weapon across the border and he is now with his family. jamie: those charges were dropped, right? >> reporter:. right the fight is to get the rifle back, his winnebago and his nine surfboards. jamie: steve, thanks so much. keep us posted so much what is happening at the house. we're happy for that family. merry christmas. kelly: new developments in the growing gun control debate. some suggest tougher gun restrictions in the wake of the connecticut school shooting. others like leaders at the national rifle association say no to new gun laws. joining us now for a fair and balanced debate on this topic, richard goodstein, democratic consultant and

former advisor to hillary clinton for president and chris wilson, former executive director of the texas republican party. thanks for joining us this day. let's get right to the question. should we find a way enacting new gun laws it will help prevent another mass shooting at a school, a movie theater or even a mall? >> well, let's not forget what happened here was not a violation of the law per se. we had a criminal who stole a gun from a law-abiding citizen. unless democrats proposes pose confiscating guns from people who purchase them legally, which i don't think they're proposing nothing they're proposing would have stopped what occurred in connecticut. it is a real problem for us to step forward creating laws out of the air that would have absolutely nothing to do with you stopped what occurred. kelly: richard, do you agree with that. >> well, here is the problem, kelly, with the nra's position. first, they're tone he have did. the public since newtown, or

even before turned rather substantially against the idea of allowing assault weapons to be purchased, to allow assault ammo to be purchased. they're factually wrong. the fact is more children are killed accidentally with guns around the house than have been killed in school shootings since 1960 by far. third, you know, it is just defies common sense. people, if you put a guard at a door, what about the other doors of a school? how about the fort hood shooting? the nra had talks about only way you take on a bad guy is a good guy with a gun. fort hood was mobbed with good guys with guns yet, one guy, very determined who took a lot of those soldiers out. so, look, obviously there countries that have mental illness, that have video games, they don't have the problems with guns the united states has. that is the big variable. and, i really think that the public is becoming pretty fed up with the notion that somehow or other we should

throw up our hands and do nothing. kelly: richard, of course, richard is talking about wayne laperriere, the vice president of the powerful nra, who gave a litany of complaints about all of this. he remains disses missive president obama creating a task force led by vice president joe biden to examine ways to reduce gun violence. wayne laperriere believes the group will try to destroy the second amendment, true or false? >> if you look at the overall goal here of the democrats is to do, david axelrod axiom never fail to take advantage of a crisis. this is not a political winner for the democrats. even at the height of the news coverage for this only saw a seven-point swing in terms of americans wanting more gun control. look back at columbine --. kelly: is this a movement to take away guns from the average constituent, take away their second amendment rights? is it or not? >> that is movement. that was only goal. the only thing democrats try to do it every few yearsings look for tragedy and take

advantage to increase gun control laws. if you look back every single time more gun laws passed it has opposite effect. has not decreased gun violence. increased it and americans still believe we're better off arming ourselves by to one margin. kelly: i see your point. richard, nra opposes places limit on high-capacity ammunition that could possibly reduced a crazed gunman taking so many lives. they're against reinstating a ban on assault weapons which was used. what is your response to the nra concerns because there are some lawmakers say their constituents are telling them please don't let the government take my guns away? is it really about we should perhaps a conversation, please don't take my children and family members away? >> well, of course. look, you know, say what you want about second amendment rights. the president stood up for it. there's no suggestion, this reminds me of the health care debate people talked about death panels, some

extreme thing nobody is suggesting. there is not a soul who is talking about going in and confiscating people's guns. what they are talking about, however, is not allowing people, crazed or otherwise to get into the private hands these magazines that can shoot hundreds of bullets in the course of a minute or two. and that, yes, the military should have but people on the street simply don't need. and certainly ask the police, kelly, next time you have a policeman on the show ask them whether they think it is a good idea that private citizens having this kind of fire power? kelly: okay. >> my guess you would be hard-pressed to find somebody who thinks that is good or necessary in the interest of self-defense. kelly: richard, chris, the bottom line this tragedy affected us all. it is a matter of finding good common sense results. >> i agree on that. what richard pointed out that is already illegal. get act to the laws we have right now, everyone was looking for nra to be more outreach and provide more outreach. seems, according to critics

have been very dismiss cities of -- dismissive of everything. chris, richard, thanks for joining us as well. try to enjoy your holidays. >> you too, gregg. kelly. jamie: at this hour we're waiting official election results in egypt as opposition leaders slam referendum voting saying it was rigged by islamist who is backed president morsi's so-called power grab. at the same time the muslim brotherhood is declaring an unofficial victory saying the new constitution passedelmig fears of new political turmoil and protest ain that country. amy kellogg following the story live from london. amy, thanks for joining us. why are the split -- preliminary results show controversial. >> reporter: they are controversial, jamie, because there are allegations of voter fraud. groups such as the moderates, liberals, secularists christians say they were not

fairly representing at the table, responsible for putting together this constitution. also only a third of eligible voters turned out to vote. if it does pass some people are saying frankly it won't have a whole lot of legitimacy. judges are looking into these allegations of voter irregularities. that may be why this voting which started over a week ago has not all wrapped up or the results have not been made final. that is probably going to happen tomorrow. this is a very important moment because this new constitution is meant to enshrine the freedoms that the old ones did not. opponents say the constitution is too skewed toward the islamists and claim it really doesn't go far enough protecting human rights including women's rights and freedom of speech, and it was raised through. that said, the muslim brotherhood and those who support the constitution are saying it is victory for democracy. one. first victories in a new democratic egypt. jamie: amy kellogg live from

london. thank you. kelly: a growing way for americans to avoid expensive household appliance. we'll tell but the do it yourself movement to help people fix pricey appliances sharing valuable tips to help us all save money. no smiles in this can kid camera -- candid camera shot hoping the video will keep repeat car thieves from ever coming back

jamie: fox news alert. this is just in to fox news.

in southwest houston, it all started with a car accident. when the police officer responded though and opened the door of one of the cars he was shot, along with a bystander. police not releasing the name of the suspect who tried to flee and is in the hospital with injuries after he was taken down and the bystander also is dead. this particular officer, we don't have much on the condition. he is in the hospital though and the suspect was caught. it happened about 8:50 this morning. more as we get it into fox. kelly: while folks in that town try to help protect each other's property there is a growing movement of so-called fixers, lending their neighbors a hand and trying to cut down on the clutter by helping them repair outdated or broken household items and teaching them the skills to do it themselves in the process. dominic di-natale joins us from the west coast newsroom with more details about

this. what is a fixers collective? >> reporter: this started out in europe, in the netherlands where they call them repair calf taste. -- cafes. they try to fix it, from lawn moyers to lamps. ones in seattle we went to see meet once a month and everyone is well come. >> this is really rewarding to actually have success story coming out. and even the things that we don't actually succeed in fixing, this is actually learning experience, to get things taken apart and see how they function and see what is wrong with it. >> reporter: well the goal is really to do away with our throwaway society. instead of buying new items they hope to teach other that is the old ones can work just as well. in an economy like this probably a good thing. kelly: sounds like a really good deal. one man's junk become's another's treasure. does it cost anything to

join? >> reporter: no. the suggested ad ismation is -- admission is five dollars to rent out the meeting space. they point out you save money and help you do and of course save the planet. >> everything has built in obsolescence and minute it breaks or, the minute the newest gadget comes out people have to get the new one and throw the old one away. we don't have to live like that. it is expensive. and what are we doing to the planet? >> reporter: while this idea is just catching on here, over in europe you get the government, foundations and private donors chipping in with funding for these repair cafes. it goes up to as much as half a million dollars. obviously private enterprise taking it on board here and certainly taking off, kelly. kelly: dominic, ingenuity and innovation at its best. thank you. jamie: well this is pretty interesting. do you feel like your doctor has enough training? it

turns out really fine medical schools are considering shortening the length of time it takes to graduate medical school. it will reduce their costs. will it reduce your level of care? we'll take a look at that and what the future means for doctors and us, the patients. hmm, it says here that cheerios helps lower cholesterol as part of a heart healthy diet. that's true. ...but you still have to go to the gym. ♪ the one and only, cheerios

kelly: fox news alert. four firefighters were shot responding to a fire in upstate new york. local police are holding a news conference right now saying four firefighters were shot while responding to a fire in the town and that two are dead. these are volunteer firefighters. they also say another police officer was injured. the shooter is dead at the scene from bullet wounds. 33 local residents were evacuated. four homes were fully engulfed. david lee miller will have a live report later this hour. jamie: on this we'll report and you decide but there is a report out there what could become a troubling trend in u.s. hospitals, suggesting that surgeons are making major errors more than 4,000 times a year and the news is manying at the same time that some medical schools, really good ones, are considering shorting the time it takes to become a doctor from four years to

three, creating growing questions as to whether three years provides enough training and whether or not the current four years is even enough to begin with. joining me, dr. stephen garner of new york methodist hospital. dr. garner, great to see you. >> great to see you, jamie. jamie: let's talk about the mistakes that are made, how troubling is the trend? >> it is nothing new and if you look at it the trend is decreasing but no mistake is acceptable when you're dealing with surgery and people's lives but there are basic things people can do and surgeons and patients to avoid the mistakes. for example, getting right leg operated on the doctor should take magic marker put a note on the right leg, this is the leg to be operated on. very basic stuff, you never make a mistake. what happens the doctor makes wrong side surgery because the patient is flipped on back or stomach the right and left are reversed. doctor, patient should make sure this is the right patient operated on. i'm mrs. jones, am i correct patient you're talking

about? again communication. a lot of times doctors are rushing and don't take time to do it. sponges and equipment left behind in patients belly. measure number of sponges at beginning of surgery and number at end they should be equal. if you're missing a sponge you better start looking for something. time out, very important the before the surgeon gets started everybody take a time out. okay. i have mrs. jones i'm doing gallbladder surgery. everybody agree? nurse will agree. technician will agree. anesthesiologist will agree. these are basic things. the joint commission on accreditation have been stressing these two. i think we'll see a marked increase of wrong side surgeries and mistakes but right now we haven't seen the effect of new policies that have been instituted. >> i'm really glad, you're telling patients what to do because i found myself having surgery on friday on my wrist and the doctor auto graphed the right wrist, and was supposed to do left one so deeply i can't get it

off. >> you feel good. jamie: i feel very cognizant being asked three times my name and everything and i hope that patients will take your advice seriously. you don't want to have surgery you don't need. talk about the medical schools and what they're considering doing. first we had the famous case in new york where resident, surgical residents didn't want to work more than 40 hours a week because they get tired. contrast that to getting less schooling. how do we two in that direction if nyu is one of the schools. >> one of the top schools. we've had no change in the curriculum in last 60, 70 years and maybe it is time to reevaluate how we're teaching. we're having doctors getting out tremendous debt, 150,000, $200,000 in debt. they have been studying a lot of things no longer necessary to study. jamie: really? >> yeah. i mean, doctors can, the curriculum for example, in anatomy, one good way to teach anatomy is use the cat

scan and use a gnat my identify on the cat scan, here is live or spleen instead of old way we used to do it in a book. here is opportunity to consolidate two areas of medical training. one cat scan training which is clinical along with book knowledge that takes place in first two years. jamie: that is interesting, actually, making cost less might encourage people to want to be doctors. you truly believe, as someone who has been teaching medical skunts and residents and such that it would be okay for patients to have one year less? >> i think, if we reevaluate the curriculum. now there are two ways to do it. one you could just shift all the time during the summer and have longer days and have same number of hours and done it in three years. you safe tuition and cost of living expenses and food expenses and so on. so that's one thing you've done. or we could reevaluate the curriculum and make it more in tune what we have. advances on the technical

side could be incorporated into the medical teachings. jamie: very, very interesting. dr. garner, thank you for joining us. >> thanks, jamie. happy holidays. jamie: same to you. whether or not, kelly this spreads across the country. kelly: would be nice to see. up next, a busy holiday travel report. we've got update on the "planes, trains & automobiles" carrying millions of americans to grandma's house today. as lawmakers take their holiday break with no deal to avoid the fiscal cliff we'll look why one of them says a plan could be possible if the president himself didn't want to take us over the edge.

>> we are told injuries are serious. they are being treated in local hospitals. as you mentioned a police officer from nearby greece, new

york was apparently driving by. he was injured when his vehicle or the area near him was hit by shrapnel. now, as for the crime scene itself, the authorities say that they believe that the shooter is dead. no word as to his identity. also not clear, kelly, is what type of weapon he had with him. the authorities said that it was not clear if it was an assault rifle, the type of weapon we have heard so much about during the past few days. we expect that there will be more information later today. they say there will be a news conference at 2:00 this afternoon. another thing to keep in mind is that because of the attack on the firemen, they were unable to put out the house fire, and what began as a house fire and vehicle fire then spread to at least three other buildings. we are toll that they were destroyed. others also damaged. and firefighters are on the

scene trying to put out the flames. also, still yet to be known, kelly, and this is key, is might there be other victims here, because they are still trying to extinguish the fire it is difficult to determine if there was anyone in any of the homes that literally burned to the ground. possibly -- and this was asked by reporters in the news conference, was there anyone in the homes? could the shooter have been linked to those homes? tk thdid the shooter have a connection to the firefighter, what was his motive? these are all things authorities are desperately trying to answer. this one is clear tkha as the county executive maggie brooks pointed out from monroe county, new york, this is a very, very difficult christmas eve for this community. they are still reeling, still very much in shock trying to figure out how this could happen in what is normally a very quiet community in new york. kelly: thank you for following

up with that for us, and please continue to keep us updated about this. such a tragedy unfolding there. you never expect to see first responders in a situation like this. david lee miller bringing this update. of course he'll get back with us with more breaking news from the scene. jaime: right now christmas eve shoppers are frantically searching for last-minute sales. a rough night for one mother when a shopping cart carrying his baby rolls out of a parking lot straight into oncoming traffic. we have the video and frightening details. and fired for being too attractive, is that legal? one state now says yes. our legal panel weighs in on a controversial ruling that is shock being the nation today. all this and more "happening now." that is going to be one interesting discussion coming up. you'll want to stick around for

that. first we have to talk about this rough winter weather, if our praying for a white christmas a lot of people are getting it, in the meantime a lot of people are suffering with true travel headaches, millions right now stranded or delayed. hi, everybody, i'm jaime colby, happy christmas eve. kelly: i'm kele kelee wright, happy christmas eve as well. a storm is working its way across the country causing massive headaches and hampering travel plans for so many people on the road as well as in the air. we are live at atlanta hearts field jackson international. how are things looking for travelers right now? >> hi, kelly, can you hear me? we are having a little bit of an audio delay. can you hear me? kelly: maybe the weather is affecting you. how do things look now for holiday travelers. >> right now we are seeing a lot of delays. not necessarily the same story that we saw last week with the

blanket cancellations. a very slow-moving day, very congested for travelers here. nasty weather in the southeast. 50% of flights that are leaving atlanta hearts kneeled jackson international airport are delayed. and we are also seeing that outside in the western part of the united states, places like salt lake city, serious delays. the national weather service issued a winter storm warning for oklahoma, arkansas and the southeast is bracing for very severe weather also. lots of travelers we spoke with plan for very early travel plans in hopes of dodging those later delays and catch really the calm before the storm, kelly because as we know there is a system not only in the pacific northwest but also the storm system down here in the southeast that will head up to new york city and northeast areas, you'll be having some severe weather up there. kelly. kelly: that affects so many people especially flying out of atlanta, or through atlanta, so what does the rest of the day look like for travelers coming through there?

>> reporter: well, slowly but surely we are starting to see more delays take place. earlier this morning a lot of the flights were coming in on time. as the conditions deteriorate not only here in the southeast but like i said across the country we are seeing a lot of delays. people are coming in, a lot of smiling faces, a lot of people say they are just happy to get home for the holiday yes, we are seeing the delays but not like those cancellations last week. despite the fact it may not be the most pleasant time to travel, they are certainly a means to an end and they are very happy to be home for christmas. kelly: it gives meaning to the song "i'll be home for christmas" but maybe a little delayed. all right, elizabeth, thank u. jaime: the christmas shopping season is hear hardly looking merry for the nation's retailers. visions slumping, vision -g visions of profits that were one dancing in their eyes are being replaced by the grinch. adam shapiro as the story for

that. i hear shoes are real popular this year. it's for real. >> i did not see that report. there are bright spots in all of this. don't harm the messenger here, but here is what is going on. first the good news. national retail federation says this holiday hospitalizing season, we are not out o shopping season, we will have a 586 billion-dollar season. shop or track, they track foot traffic at malls. they've revised their prediction. they are saying for the week that ended december 15th and the trend afterward is that shopping is actually going down. it was down 4.3% for the same period last year, and so they are revising their total shopping sales this holiday season from growth of 3.3% to growth of 2.5%. the dollar figure is much different than the national retail federation only 257 billion but they use different formulation -gs for als for all that.

online shopping not as good as they thought it would be. they were thinking 15% to 17% growth, only 8.4% growth. $40billion fro. jaime: this is not from the retail federation, but the number five most popular gift on shoppers' lists this year were shoes. and no surprise a lot of thermathletic footwear. i'm just saying. >> reporter: when you're paying 500 bucks for a pair of sneakers could you get an ipad for that. jaime: you might be. the numbers you're telling us about, are they going to hold as we continue through the return season coming up? >> reporter: that is the key figure, right. are these numbers accurate? will they hold? you never know until we are after, that's why the national retail federation is sticking to their number. they say it's going to be a healthy holiday shopping season, 4.1%. $596billion i don'596 bill

$586 billion, nobody is going to sneeze at that. jaime: i love this quote, shoes have turned the corner in the gift category there is a new handbag. kelly. >> reporter: what wil are you getting your husband, shoes hanna handbag. jaime: no. i don't think husbands get that. your present is on its way. we hope the stores hold up and that there are big sales. kelly: there is a big deal that is looming, and that is can they avert the fiscal crisis by getting a deal. president obama spending the christmas holidays in hawaii, but it's not all fun in the sun. still looming as i've just talked about is this large fiscal cliff as the deadline gets closer, and now there are reports surfacing that the president is looking to strike a partial deal that would extend tax cuts for the middle class while holding off on spending cuts. chief white house correspondent ed henry has the luxury of

reporting live in honolulu, hawaii. ed it seems for the first time we might really go off the fiscal cliff which is something that you or so many of us in washington never believed would happen. >> reporter: you're right, kelly. i mean for the longest time there was an expectation in both parties there would be a lot of fighting but right up against the christmas holiday they would finally somehow work this out. that is traditionally what happens on capitol hill. this time as you say leaders in both parties now bracing for the real possibility that we will go off that fiscal cliff, and that tax increases will go across the board for everybody, basically, go back to the old pre-bush rates number one, and number two that there are massive spending cuts that are supposed to kick in at the beginning of january, hit the benghaz pentagon benghazreally hard. lindsey graham says he wants to see spending cuts. >> if you want leaders then have you to lead. the president has been a

pathetic fiscal leader, he's produced three budgets and can't get one vote for any of this is budgets. i would vote for revenues including tax-rate hikes even though i don't like them to save the country from becoming greece, but i'm not going to set aside the 1.2 trillion in cuts. >> reporter: the white house when you talk to officials there they say the president has put those kind of spending cuts on the table. he's been trying to workout a deal with republicans back on capitol hill. it's still illusive as you noted, he's now looking at a shorter term deal, maybe just extend tax cuts for the middle class, and also extend unemployment benefits for 2 million people who will be losing them a week after christmas. but the bottom line is spending cuts would then be kicked until next year that's why lindsey graham and others are upset. kelly: that pares it down from $800 billion as opposed to $4.7 trillion.

democrats,ed people to be standing strong that there is not going to be any deal without tax increases. what about that? >> reporter: it's true. i mean that has been a key stumbling block here. when you that you can to white house officials, you talk to the president's allies on capitol hill they say the president ran on this back in the campaign. they said tax rates would be going up on the wealthy. that was his agenda. he won the election, and democrats like chuck schumer say it's time for republicans to admit that, take a listen. >> on taxes, i know it's hard for the republicans, but the president ran on that platform, 250. no tax increases people below, but taxes for people above. he won. 60% of the voters said they were for it in the the exit polls, including some republicans. >> reporter: the president is still vacationing here in hawaii. white house officials are privately making it clear that you heard him last friday before he left the white house, i'll see you next week. if there is not some sort of christmas miracle and some sort

of a deal over the next 24 hours very likely we'll see the president get on air force one in the next couple of days, right after christmas and head back to washington to find some sort of solution, kelly. kelly: hopeful people are following his advice and listening to christmas carols, drinking eggnog and talking to constituents. jaime: mistletoe extract could be good for your health. we'll talk about that. can bolt sidecan both sides bridge the gap before it's too rate or does one side want us to go off the fiscal cliff? washington insiders weigh in next. we'll be right back. with the spark miles card from capital one,

thor gets great rewards for his small business! your boa! [ garth ] thor's small business earns double miles on every purchase, every day! ahh, the new fabrics. put it on my spark card. ow. [ garth ] why settle for less? the spiked heels are working. wait! [ garth ] great businesses deserve great rewards. [ male announcer ] the spark business card from capital one. choose unlimited rewards with double miles or 2% cash back on every purchase, every day! what's in your wallet? [ cheers and applause ] i just served my mother-in-law your chicken noodle soup but she loved it so much... i told her it was homemade. everyone tells a little white lie now and then. but now she wants my recipe [ clears his throat ] [ softly ] she's right behind me isn't she? [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. smoke? nah, i'm good. ♪ [ male announcer ] every time you say no to a cigarette,

you celebrate a little win. nicoderm cq, the patch with time release smart control technology that acts fast and helps control cravings all day long. ♪ quit one day at a time with nicoderm cq. kelly: theress a there is a lot of finger pointing as we get closer and closer to the fiscal cliff. both sides seem to be digging in leaving little room for

compromise. republican senator john barrasso of wyoming says he wants to find a solution but he's not so sure about president obama. >> when i lessen to the president i think the president is eager to go over the cliff for political purposes. i think he sees a political victory at the bottom of the cliff. he gets all this additional tax revenue for new programs, he gets to cut the military which democrats have been calling for for years an gets to blame republicans for it. kelly: that is the senator's opinion. we go now to david drucker the associate politics editor for "roll call" he joins in to weigh in on this issue. it seems all plans to avert the fiscal cliff is in complete disarray. we have house speaker john boehner declaring god only knows how a deal can be reached now. what are you hearing from lawmakers about their concerns? >> what i've heard from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle and it's the only point of consensus i have ever heard throughout this whole thing is a

bad deal is worse than no deal. there are many democrats and republicans who don't buy the idea that we are actually going to go over some fiscal cliff that is going to cause some horrible calamity. they are worried that everybody's taxes are going to go up, and of course they are worried voters aren't going to be too happy about that. they worry about its effects on the economy. a lot of people on both sides of the aisle who are committed to their philosophical points of view think that it's better to let this thing go into january and february and try and workout a good deal from their point of view, than to rush something that they don't feel would be that great. and, again, part of that is they don't know that the world is going to come to an end in january when all these taxes go up. and without that fear it's harder to get a deal, when both sides have to give up so much that they are so emotionally attached tow. kelly: w to. kelly: we were talking toeho ise

president. and the president would like to get back here. the president and speaker boehner have been negotiating to find a deal that both sides could agree to. the "wall street journal" reported the president threatened to use his inaugural address and even the state of the union address to blame republicans for falling off the cliff. is that the best approach for the president to lead, by basically tormenting john boehner? >> well, look it depends on what the president is after. you know, it's my belief that the way you get a negotiation done, particularly one that might be politically difficult, is to try to find a way for both sides to win so that they can explain why they had to give up something tough. for republicans, giving on tax rates for any income eastern eris just philosophically and politically very difficult. for democrats, giving on entitlements, allowing some sort of very significant entitlement reform is very difficult, and so

it doesn't help when you try and characterize your opponent as losing, and you as winning. the best way to do this. if it's going to work, is to create something where everybody can talk about how they won something important. kelly: you're talking about finding a common ground, a common bond as opposed to -- >> i'm talking about how you characterize it. no matter what it is, kelly it's about you characterize it to the public. kelly: what happens in the end result if, look these guys are far apart right now, what happens if they don't agree to anything at all and can't move forward. >> if they don't everybody's taxes are going up on january 1st and we're going to fight it out with a new congress that has slightly fewer house republicans, a few more house democrats and a few more senate democrats, and the president i think is going to feel like he has the leverage. he has had the leverage and continues to have the political leverage. what republicans have is negotiating leverage. but what they are not going to

do is give the president what he wants simply because the public's clammerring for it. if they don't get anything in return they will have internal problems. there are tph-pl tkepl cast krats who feel this they go over the cliff so to speak they will have more political leverage than they already do on the tax issue and will get more from republicans than they would have to give up before january 1st. it's a matter of what do the markets do, what does the economy do, does that pressure people. kelly: all we want for christmas is a deal. thank you, david drucker. jaime: back to the middle east, a bad situation is getting worse. syria plunging tkaoerpl into chaos, what can be done to stop the fighting? that is coming up. questions? anyone have occasional constipation, diarrhea, gas, bloating? yeah. one phillips' colon health probiotic cap each day helps defend against these digestive issues with three strains of good bacteria. approved! [ female announcer ] live the regular life. phillips'.

>> "happening now" for the holiday season your holiday headlines. santa claus is zipping around the world dropping off gifts for good little girls and boys. let's take a lock at where he is right now. according to norad santa is over the maldese and has delivered more than 1.5 billion gifts so far. norad will be tracking his progress all day and night and you can follow santa's journey at norad santa.org. royal traditions going by the

wayside this christmas. will and kate are celebrating the holidays with her relatives instead of with the royal family. queen elizabeth will appear in 3-d for the first time for their annual christmas-day broadcast. and if you want to feel better, well grab yourself some mistletoe and beyond distancing kissing there is research that shows it may help fight all kinds of illness, including certain types of cancer. jaime: there is new information on the conflict that is truly spiraling out of control. activists in syria say rebel forces have shot down a government fighter jet adding to their recent gains on the battlefield against the regime of president bashar al-assad. it's been 21 months of fighting, folks and it's left 40,000 people dead. is there anything that can be done to stop the fighting? joining me now richard grinel the former spokesperson for the last four u.s. ambassadors to the united nations, it's great to have you here.

>> thanks, jaime, merry christmas. jaime: merely christmas to you. it's hard to believe that this is going on day after day after day. i want to ask you first, how do you evaluate the situation? how much information does your country have and how do we know when it's time to get more involved, pause we sent an envoy, what was phrurbd? >> accomplished? >> you hit it on the head. this is a very long proceed strabgteprotected problem. we have a obama administration slow to recognize this problem. john kerry who is the newly announced pick for secretary of state has been on the record saying that president bashar al-assad is a reformer, and so that was what was being said by secretary clinton, president obama, and now john kerry early in this conflict. so we do have a problem in that the united states government has either not been paying

attention, or just is refusing to get involved. as you indicated we have this gentleman, brahimi from the u.n. that we have supported in trying to find a solution. he comes on the heels of could he fee ankofi annen who tried the same and failed. i don't know why we are having these u.s. representatives go into syria and try to talk president bashar al-assad out of killing his own people. we should recognize -- jaime: let me bottom line it for people. he himself who went this came out and said it's troufpblgt he continue even fly into the damascus airport he had to fly to beirut, get in a car and drive because it's too dangerous. at what point is it a game changer if they use chemical weapons, is that it? >> let's be clear. al-jazeera has reported yesterday that there is some kind of chemical or biological

weapons attack. this is unconfirmed. hopefully since it happened yesterday our government is trying to figure out the details. you have to remember that president obama has moved the goal posts of when he would get involved with syria. early on he had indicated that there was this concept of responsibility to protect, which is a foreign policy concept that if there are people in harm's way that the united states government has a responsibility to protect. jaime: he drew a red line. on top of that he drew the red line, president obama did and said that chemical weapons were the point at which we wouldn't sit back any more. >> right. jaime: so what can we do? >> that was the new red line. that was the new red line. jaime: yes, and what are we equipped to do if we did respond? >> well certainly waiting 21 months of doing practically nothing has made the situation worse. so we are in a deeper problem now. if we would have acted 21 months ago to support the opposition -- look, i think that it's actually

more humane to give the opposition enough arms to stop this. if we would have done this months ago we would have been able to have the end of this after six or seven months. but now since we've ignored it 21 months of violence, i don't think is a very moral position to be in. i think if we would have armed the opposition earlier it would have ended earlier, and that's i think a more compelling moral argument. jaime: quickly before we go -- go ahead, go ahead, i'm sorry. >> i was just going to say i think that we've got to get more serious about organizing the opposition, arming them and ending this conflict as soon as possible. jaime: and i just wanted to ask you quickly before we go, arming the rebels isn't always the answer as we've seen in other countries where we've done that, they can get into the wrong hands, right? >> sure. absolutely. that's why early on you've got to figure out who the good guys are and arm them early before we see all the islamists coming into foyt as we are seeing in

syria now. you do it early and you pick the right guys early. jaime: hind sight 20-20. richard grinel thank you for your insight on that. we are keeping a close eye on syria, folks. thank you, merry christmas. kelly: a sweet homecoming in time for the holidays for one marine veteran locked up in one of mexico's most notorious prisons on a controversial weapons charge. the very lateness a live report. plus the new government in libya offering some closure for families of the victims of pan am flight 103, 24 years after the senseless tragedy. the father of one of the victims speaks out. that's next. pwhra*p

jaime: hroert hrert. disturbing new details in the horrific shooting we told you about early this morning. four volunteer firefighters shot while responding to a massive home fire. two dead, two injured, a police officer also treated for

shrapnel wounds. 33 locals evacuated, four homes fully engulfed. they couldn't takeout the fire because of the shooting. this happened in webster, new york, a town east of rochester near lake ontario. here is a part of what local officials said at a press conference a new moments ago. >> just to recap, this morning at 5:35am west webster firefighters received a call for a car and house fire at 191 lake road. they responded with one engine, with two firefighters on the engine, two firefighters responded and private vehicles to the location. upon arrival the firefighters all drew fire. all four firefighters were shot at the scene. one firefighter was able to flee the scene on his own, the other three were pinned down at the location. eventually swat swat with an

armored personnel carrier responded to the location and removed two additional firefighters from that scene. two firemen were deceased at the scene. two received serious injuries from the shots, and are being treated at local hospitals at this time. the names and we'll spell them for you after the press conference. one fireman was deceased at the scene, a fireman and will the with the webster police department was deceased at the scene. at firefighter is currently in surgery, and he's a west coaster fire officer -- or fireman. and at fireman is also a volunteer firefighter and a full time firefighter with the

rochester fire department was also injured and is being treated at the scene. additionally an off-duty greece police officer, john ritter who happened to be driving by the scene at the time in his private vehicle, received injuries from shrapnel striking the side of his body and his car, and he is being treated as well. jaime: wow, that is incredible that story. well our david lee miller is on it and if there is any more information about motive, or the suspect we'll bring it to you as the story develops. kelly: new information now on a very special homecoming that happened just a short time ago. it's reason for extra celebration this christmas eve for the family of a marine veteran who spent four months in a notorious mexican prison, much of it chained to his bed. he had been arrested for a controversial weapons charge. john hammer was finally released over the weekend, and he's just returned home to his family in time for christmas in florida.

that's where we find steve harrigan live in palmetto bay florida with more details about mr. hammer's return. steve. >> reporter: kelly, after four months in a notorious mexican prison for this u.s. veteran of combat in iraq and afghanistan it all ended just one hour ago right here. john hammer and his father drove right into the garage. john junior is suffering from ill effects of the stomach flu and dehydration. they had to stop off at a hospital, an emergency room on the way back here to miami but he says he's in pretty good condition. the father came out a few minutes ago and spoke to me, he says despite the ordeal this will be the family's greatest christmas ever. >> they allowed us to use their facilities that were secure in there and we pulled in, and i got him in the car, and i thanked the u.s. consulate guys, and we took off, and made a beeline to san pedro island and

spent the night there. johnny -- while i was sleeping johnny got up to the morning and walked to the beach and watched the sun come up. >> reporter: it must be a really stuff time for you right now with what you're feeling. >> no, this is great right now. i'm glad to be talking to you about it. that it's over with, because it's really over with. >> reporter: it was a very public push by the family and their congresswomen to get john hammer out of that mexican prison. back to you in new york. kelly: it's so refreshing to see, just in time for the holidays. he has some recovering to do, but thanks for that report. steve harrigan. jaime: here is an update on a story we haven't talked about in a while, the new lake yan government is announcing plans to open all of the files on the 1988 bombing of pan am flight 103 over lockerbie, scotland. libyan officials say it will be at least a year before any of the information is released.

the move comes on the 24th anniversary of the trapbl dewhich killed 270 people on board and on the ground. i am joined by a man whose daughter was 30 years old when she boarded that flight back on december 21st, 1988 and the bomb took her life. stan, thank you so much for joining us. >> thank you and merry christmas to you. jaime: merry christmas to you. i'm sorry that it's without your daughter, what a tragedy. en you hear this news does it help in anyway to know that you may be able to look at these documents? >> let me correct the information that you received. i had made a few inquires yesterday, prior to knowing that i'd be coming on the show today. they are false. the libyan ambassador to britain was giving you information that was not true. he did not have the sanction of

the libyan government. i don't know if he will be representing the libyan government after today. the libyan government, as it currently exists, is not cooperating with the united states. none of what was related to me over this past weekend is true, so to correct this information that can be secured from the scottish crown, some time inned inchbored inch bureau after christmas. >> our ambassador who died in benghazi tragically was communicating with you. he was communicating information to you. it's a great loss that he's not with us. what was he able to tell you? >> he was purchase furnishing us information that he was able to extract from bits and pieces

that was scattered all over the offices, and as he gathered this information he would make it a point to get a hold of one of us in the organization of the families that have stuck together, and we would relay that information on. possibly what we were looking for was who else was involved in the downing of pan am 103, was assad, the iranian government? we know that they at one time were very much involved, but to what degree we can't tell you, we don't know and i don't think i want to speculate. jaime: well, stan, the thing is, the lone bomber got a hero's welcome when he returned, and he's now died. do you still believe that there were other people responsible? >> well i think that they provided -- they provided

information as if they were to cooperate toward the bombing of the flight, because actually there was supposedly a number of flights that was to have a bomb placed upon it on the day that pan am 103 went down. fortunately the spanish security at their airport in madrid was able to detain and search the other planes, and so only pan am 103 that was flying out of germany into heathrow and then from heathrow back to new york got away with it, and that's what had taken place. as far as abdel basaet al-megrahi being released, that -- let me just put it this way. it was money and oil that brought all of this about. british petroleum gave money to the brits, the brits blamed the scotts. the scottish government released abdel basaet al-megrahi, and that is true, and it was the

scottish people that were up in arms, they were opposed to this. and we areee certainl we are externally grateful to the scottish people and the information po about the degre of his cancer that he had was not true. jaime: at least you give them thanks and let them know, the scottish people made a difference for you. you're spending the holiday season without your daughter diane. we want to wish you and your family a good, healthy holiday season. thanks for joining us, stan. take care. >> thank you and a merry christmas, thank you. jaime: take care. kelly. kelly: the head of the nra partly blames the media for the school shooting in connecticut. is that fair? our panel weighs in, next.

jaime: fasten your seatbelt folks beings this may be the strangest case i've ever seen. new information on a worker who was fired for being too attractive to her boss. that according to the boss' wife. the iowa supreme court ruled this a dentist was within his legal rights to fire his dental assistant. she had been there a decade. because she was seen as a threat to his marriage, adding that she was, quote, irresistible. is that fair? joining us live fred tissi a formal federal prosecutor and

esther panich a criminal defense attorney. welcome to both of you. >> thanks for having me. jaime: this case really happened and it's gone to two levels of the court where they agreed with the lower court the appellate court did that he was within his rights to fire her because she dressed too provocative lee and his wife who worked in the office said, enough. what happens next? >> first ever all i think we need to clarify. court said she was not acting flirtatious lee. my understanding is she said she wore scrubs to work. unless they were really low-cut v-neck scrubs i don't know how sexy they could be in an office environment. this is a very fact specific case. what it found like is he was lusting in his heart, but whose responsibility is it to control their behavior? is it her or his responsibility for controlling his behavior? i think this starts a slippery slope for a pretext to fire for some other reason which could

end up being one because she is a female. i think that's what we have to be careful of. jaime: let me put my lawyer hat on. it's not my area of expertise, employment discrimination. she sued for gender discrimination. it seems to me if she had sued for sexual harassment she might have won her case. tell me what you think given this. the dentist says to her, and i've asked my producer permission to say this. i asked two producers, he said to her, that if she saw his pants bulging she would know her clothing was too revealing. would that qualify as sexual harassment? >> you know what, jaime i'm not sure that it wouldn't. i don't understand why she didn't sue for sexual harassment. ultimately the iowa supreme court, you know, focuses in and we are all talking about this issue about how she got fired as being too provocative. this may come as a surprise to you, between the three of us, you esther and i the only one that is never going to get fired

for being too provocative will be me. i don't have a dog in the fight. it's a right to work state an was allowed to do it. i saw some of the allegations of comments that he had made to her that i think were inappropriate. the guy kind of broke the fundamental rule among dentists is you don't drill in the company's cavities. what he should have done is tracked the woman down. jaime: you need to stop now. this is a serious case. the question is whether it will go further to the supreme court. he did the dentist save himself here because he hired another woman to replace her. >> he did. the only question that was before the iowa supreme court is whether or not there was gender discrimination. he hired another woman, only women work there. under the facts of the case they ruled that it was not gender discrimination and ultimately i don't think they were wrong about that. jaime: esther do you think she was entitled to damages for comments like that? >> for the sexual harassment comment? jaime: the one i won't repeat. >> right, if we're referring to

the one that you mentioned that you needed your producers' permission for then yes i think she would have damages. i think it's a clear case of sexual harassment it creates a hostile work environment. unfortunately that's not the way they want. what the court was left with was to determine the very narrow question which is fact based on whether these actions were gender discrimination, which the court found that they were not. if i were this dentist i'd be careful and if i were these women working for that dentist i'd have a tape recorder with me at all times, because they may have problems in the future. >> the question still remains -- jaime: what would be the damages? >> the damages would be lost income, lost of wages. if she had to work for a different job and made less money, had a longer commute, i would come up with 50 different damages. what i'm afraid about for sexual harassment and these types of things which i don't understand why they didn't bring those either. between the three lawyers of us i can't understand why they won't have done it. i don't think any of us k. that would have been a much better

case. i think she had a much better case there. a lot of times when you bring cases like that you have six months to make a complaint with the eeoc, you've got to go sometimes to state agencies before you can actually sue, and reading between the lines they may have actually blown the six-month statute. this may have been what she was left with. jaime: it did make it to an all male three-judge panel of the appellate court. the courts ruled, maybe that's the end of it. interesting case and great to have both of your perspectives on it. >> thanks, merry christmas. >> merry christmas. jaime: merry christmas. kelly. we report. kelly: you decide. the nra blaming the main-stream media in part for what happened in newtown, connecticut, is that a fair criticism? our media panel will weigh in, next.

kelly: the head of the national rifle association taking aim at national media saying they are partly to blame nor mass murderers like the school shooting in newtown, connecticut. listen. >> how many more copy-cats are waiting in the wings for their moment of fame? from a national media machine that rewards them with wall to wall attention and a sense of

identity that they crave. while provoking others to try to make their mark. kelly: jim pinkerton is a contributing editor and writer for the conservative magazine. alan colmes is host of the alan colmes radio show and author of "thank the liberals for saving america." thank you for joining us. wayne louisiana m lapierre. weigh in on that for blaming those of us in the media for reporting on tragedies like what unfolded in newtown. >> he's out of touch. he uses that very same media to advance his own agenda. the nra uses the media to spread its message, to raise money. that's what it is, it's a lobbying money-raising organization that gets political clout to give money to political people to give them big money to spread the message.

to blame the media but it has nothing to do with using the implements of murder which have nothing to do witness. but the media that we use in a first amendment righted country to spread news, to give information, that is the culprit? out of touch. kelly: jim i was struck by what he said blaming the media and actually going out and reporting these facts that do take place, to let the american people what is going on, albeit it's very tragic and there have been copy-cats out there, but to blame the media out there. >> that is exactly right. there have been copy-cats out there. there has been kind of an iconic pre verse celebration of some of these killers who are sort of famous. there have been four movies made about the thrill killer, charles starkweather from the 1950s. four movies. i think another part of it is the imitation factor. it's eye ron toeubg me that jaime, fox the actor would be one of these participants in an

anti--- progun control video on youtube now and he's of course the star of this new movie, jango unchained, which is all about mass murder and revenge and killing and so on. and tom cruise in the new movie jack reacher. hollywood admits they have a problem here. kelly: i'm focusing on the news media which was doing the reporting of these terrible things that have unfolded not only in newtown, but aurora and so many other places, mall shootings, the virginia tech massacre, going back as far as columbine. let me read another statement that wayne lapierre said about those of us in the news media saying, i know there is a media machine in this country that wants to blame guns every time something happens. i know there is an anti-second amendment industry in this country. wayne lapierre, nra, alan i couldn't disagree with him more, because we are reporting the facts as they unfolded letting the people decide and if it

falls on the issue of having a conversation about gun control, or some other aspect of healthcare, mental health illness what is wrong with that? >> nothing, that is what the media does. to respond to what jim says. we export jaime, fox' movies all over the world. our culture, video games, movies made in america are seen everywhere else. why only in the united states do do we have this constant drumbeat of store i have rivets i can actions take being place in school. we don't see this happening around the world. to the extent we see it happening, time after time after time, four times since this president has been in office in the united states of america, y. >> there is a fair amount of violence around the world. it comes in all different forms, that's for sure. and look, kelly, you know, look you might need to spend more time watching, say cnn where people like piers morgan and others pound away on the gun issue all the time. you might have seen david gregor

on nbc flailing away. it's clear that big chunks of the mainstream media have an agenda against guns. >> do you think the media is more responsible than guns are? do you think they are more responsible than the actual availability of guns. >> i think the actual person responsible is the killer. kelly: gentlemen, i've got to get in there. jim and alan, i'd love to go a little bit further and deep wer this but we've got to go. thank you. i want you to go out and take a deep breath and have a merry christmas. >> merry christmas. >> merry christmas. jaime: well, he's got the best job in the world, i thought we -- [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus presents the cold truth.

i have a cold, and i took nyquil, but i'm still "stubbed" up. [ male announcer ] truth is, nyquil doesn't unstuff your nose. what? [ male announcer ] it doesn't have a decongestant. no way. [ male announcer ] sorry. alka-seltzer plus fights your worst cold symptoms plus has a fast acting decongestant to relieve your stuffy nose. [ sighs ] thanks! [ male announcer ] you're welcome. that's the cold truth! [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus. ♪ oh what a relief it is! ♪ [ male announcer ] to learn more about the cold truth and save $1 visit alka-seltzer on facebook.